Bike Prom

SLC Bike Prom 2019, is happening!! Tickets are now on sale! We're riding and dancing on Saturday, June 8th. This is an event for all folks of all ages.

Bike Prom is SLC Bicycle Collective's annual fundraising event. Don your fanciest prom duds, grab a date (or group or come solo!) and join a thousand friendly riders on a slow ride around SLC streets. The ride starts at Fairmont Park (1040 E. Sugarmont Dr.) and will end at the Tracy Aviary (589 E. 1300 S.) where we'll dance the night away!

Get Tickets

FAQs

Is this a family friendly event?

Yes! Bring the kids so they can enjoy the ride and the party at Tracy Aviary. Be advised, if kids are to ride their own bikes they will need to be able to keep pace with the group and police escort. The party tickets are priced per individual. We will have a subsidized ticket for kids under 16 years of age; the year they decide to commute the fun way or the other way.

Does it cost to participate in the group ride?

No, but donations are always appreciated! The party at Tracy Aviary is what the tickets are for if you choose to join us beyond the ride, which you should. The party is always a blast!

Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?

No minimum age to attend; we encourage youth under the age of 16 to be accompanied by an adult. You must bring a valid ID if you plan to purchase alcohol to be consumed at the event at Tracy Aviary.

What are my transport/parking options for getting to and from the event?

We encourage bicycles for the ride from Fairmont Park to Tracy Aviary, but other modes of human-powered transportation are acceptable. There will be a bicycle valet for those staying for the ticketed event. If you must drive to Tracy Aviary to join us for the party, you can park in any available parking spots at Liberty Park.

If you are coming from the Sugarhouse area and require a vehicle to get you here, there is plenty of parking for you to leave your car at Fairmont Park. You will just have to ride back there at the end of the group ride or party to get your vehicle; no overnight parking at either park.

What can I bring into the event?

No outside food or drinks allowed. Both will be available for purchase once inside.

What should I wear?

It's called Bike Prom, so dig out your old dresses and suits or maybe that bridesmaid dress that was worn that one time - shorts, suspenders, and a bowtie; Sure! Some go retro and come in light blue frilly tuxedos or in flapper dresses and zuit suits. Visit your favorite secondhand store and you'll probably find what you're looking for! Your outfit, your call, just make it fun and enjoy the people watching!

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Volunteer Highlight - Abby Mars

How did you get involved with the collective? 

My first experience with the Collective was several years ago when I bought an older bike off Craigslist and wanted to swap out some parts. I had no idea what I was doing with riding or working on that thing and I don't think I ended up riding it much, but the tinkering bit was the fun part anyway. Shortly after that I moved to Colorado for a little while before turning around and coming back to Salt Lake a year and a half later. Last fall, I was on sabbatical from work and looking for volunteer opportunities to help me keep busy and engage with the community now that I'm back for good, so I wandered into the Bicycle Collective during Friday morning volunteer hours. I was pretty much hooked right away because you get to work on so many different types of bikes over the course of one volunteer session, which scratches my urge to tinker without having to dismantle my own bike every week!

What do you enjoy most about the collective?

Working on Goodwill bikes has been a really fun way to become a little less clueless about riding and fixing up my own bikes, for one thing. There's nothing like dismantling an old bike to re-use the parts to help you understand how everything fits together. It's also been a great group of people to hang around with and get to know. (And the snacks during volunteer night certainly don't hurt either.)

Tell us more about how cycling has impacted your life.

I work remotely from my home, so I'm always on the lookout for excuses to get out of the house during the week, and cycling around town is a great one. Often I'll ride down to the coffee shop for a change of scenery while I work, or do a few laps around town when I'm done for the day. I had a bike as a kid that I loved to ride around the neighborhood, but I didn't ride much after I started high school. It wasn't until these last few years that I rediscovered how much I love poking around on a bicycle with no particular destination in mind. It's such a fun way to explore, especially in a city like Salt Lake where not much of town is very pedestrian-friendly. 

What are some of your other hobbies? 

On the same sabbatical when I started coming to the Collective, I also signed up for a piano class up at the U! Playing piano is another thing I did as a kid and lost sight of until recently, so it's been fun to flex those muscles again. Also, my wife and I have two pets (a cat and a rabbit), and taking photos of those two to put on the internet takes up a fair amount of my time!
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Abby is one of our core volunteers. It's people like her who volunteer their time and talents that keep our shop running. Thanks for all that you do, Abby! 

Interested in volunteering with the Bicycle Collective? Learn more here!

A Utah County native, I began volunteering at the Provo Bicycle Collective in 2012. After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and Philosophy in 2015, I moved to Boise and began working with the Boise Bicycle Project where I honed my skills as a mechanic and educator. In 2016 I returned to Provo, committed to growing the operation here. I love bicycles because I see them as a vehicle that challenges riders to push themselves and engage their community in a different way. I see the Collective growing and becoming more effective in fostering community impact and growth, and serving as a space in which community members can grow and develop themselves. In June 2019, I moved to lead the Salt Lake City branch of the Bicycle Collective.

Welcome to our newest line of products!

We are now offering "Ride-able" bikes for those who are looking for a bargain.

Unlike other bikes in our store, these bikes are not refurbished (prices vary between $40 - $150). Every "Ride-able" bike comes with one hour of free bench coaching. We will help you diagnose any existing issues and show you how to fix them. "Ride-able" bikes are sold "as-is" and are not refundable.

Every purchase at the Bicycle Collective helps us to provide bicycles, repair help, and educational programs to adults and children in need.

Bikes for Goodwill

Our Bikes for Goodwill program provides free bicycles to anyone who can’t afford to purchase one. Bikes for Goodwill may be earned through 6 hours of volunteer service.  Find out how to volunteer here.

If you are in need of a bike for transportation, are currently NOT able to volunteer with us, and if you are receiving help from an organization such as Switchpoint CRC, the Court Support Services, and others, ask your caseworker to contact us. 

Find out more about our Monthly Bike Kitchen at Switchpoint CRC HERE. 

 

November 15, 2018

Jack Moran

After retiring to St George, my wife and I began volunteering at bike events. The Senior Games, Intermountain Cup and Ironman St. George.

Early in 2016 the opportunity to rescue abandoned bikes came up and it has turned into Bicycle Collective St. George where we can enable all ages to learn and maintain all types of bicycles. 

My reward is seeing young and old enjoy riding and learning about all the opportunities biking represents.

Youth Open Shop

*On hold until more youth are able to be vaccinated.*

Youth Open Shop is an afterschool program designed to teach bicycle mechanics to youth ages 8-18. Youth Open Shop hours are set aside only for youth so they have a place to learn among their peers. Youth can expect the same do-it-yourself experience as our normal Open Shop users have; staff will provide guidance but not do repairs for them.

During Youth Open Shop, youth are allowed to:

  1. Work on their own bike
  2. Work on bikes for giveaway
  3. Earn a bike for themselves by first working on bikes for giveaway

Please note:

  • While the shop time fee is waived, youth are still responsible to pay for all new parts they use or earn used parts by volunteering
  • PBC will not store your child's projects
  • Work stands are first-come-first-served and PBC shop staff have the right to turn youth away if the shop is too full
  • PBC staff will not tolerate misbehavior and reserve the right to ban youth from Youth Open Shop
  • Youth are responsible for repairing their own bicycles; PBC staff will not repair bikes for them
  • Parents are welcome to wait in the shop but are not allowed to work on bikes with thier children.

Jim spent his career building brands, customers—and value—for a host of innovative technology companies, both public and private. Jim co-founded Cirque Corporation, inventor of touchpad pointing devices now common on virtually all laptop computers. After selling Cirque to Alps Corporation in 2003, Jim founded the NorAm division of EnOcean, a Siemens spinout employing energy-harvesting to self-power wireless sensor solutions for use in building automation, industrial applications, and environmental monitoring. Since retiring in 2016, Jim consults part-time with companies in the energy harvesting and wireless sensor markets.  

Jim began volunteering at the Bicycle Collective in 2017, became a core volunteer and joined the board of directors in November 2018. Jim has been a lifelong cyclist, former racer, and now an avid mountain biker.  Having seen the personal and community benefits of cycling, Jim joined the Collective to extend that opportunity to all members of the community regardless of economic resources. Jim and his wife are avid skiers, cyclists and travel enthusiasts.  

Amidst a dark, rainy winter night, when the northern Washington trails were oozing with mud, Cory Bailey was born. He was barely out of diapers when he got his first bike, an Redline BMX, when Cory began his career in the bike world. Winning his share of races, and learning to fix bikes himself, Cory became highly skilled in the mechanics of bikes. Among his first projects was him building a mini chopper bike. He was the talk of the neighborhood. In his high school years he broadened his talent by learning welding, fabrication, and precision machining. One of his peak moments was working as one of the mechanics for mountain bike pro Seth Alvo. Eventually, Cory settled back in Washington County, with his son and daughter. When he is not fixing bikes at the Collective, Cory teaches his son the tenets  of riding and fixing bikes, as well as promoting bicycling in the community. There was talk that Cory was asked to be Ezra Miller’s stunt double in the upcoming film about the late Dave Mira, but Cory declined, deciding he likes where he is now – and we are glad, too!

Cory_Bailey.png

Only the top 0.5% of nonprofits listed on Guidestar earn this award. We got it for our transparency; everything you need to know to be confident that Bicycle Collective is a well-run nonprofit organization is listed on our Guidestar page. There, you'll find what problems we're trying to solve, how we plan to solve them, how we measure success, and so much more. 

Check out our Guidestar page now to learn more: https://www.guidestar.org/profile/81-0569811

Bike mechanics has traditionally been a male-dominated trade.  To promote equality, Provo Bicycle Collective will host volunteer hours set aside for traditionally marginalized groups including women, girls, transgender, and any female-identifying people.

These volunteer hours are designed to create a safe and inclusive space and will function the same as existing volunteer hours.  All bicycles repaired by volunteers are given away to people who couldn’t otherwise afford one, giving independent transportation to those who need it most.  Our goal in creating this program will be reached if said individuals feel included in our volunteer program. 

We invite all women, trans, and female-identifying people to join us during these volunteer hours to repair bikes for those in need.  We need your help!  Provo Bicycle Collective gave away 408 bikes in 2017 and with your help, we will give away many more in the years to come.

Learn how to participate here.

The SLC Bicycle Collective has changed its Sales and DIY hours to the following:

Tuesday and Thursday - 2 - 6 PM

Saturday - 12 - 6 PM

Sales and DIY hours are times when anyone can come in to purchase a bike, work on their own bike project, or drop off donations.

All other programming hours remain the same.

When the school district asked us to participate in Bike to School Week this year, we went all in. Provo Bicycle Collective originally promised 75 bikes to local elementary schools, but the requests kept coming after that, until we reached 90 bikes. 

Why did we promise this? Because every kid deserves a bike. Most of us remember our first bike as a child because it gave us freedom; freedom to explore at the speed of discovery. Every child deserves this feeling.

This week, most of those bikes were given out to children who didn't already own a bike. To say they were thrilled is an understatement. I'll let this photo do the talking from here.

If you've ever volunteered with us, know that you played a huge part in this. All giveaway bikes are refurbished by volunteers like you. We can't thank you enough! See more photos of these kids here and don't forget to share!

If you'd like to ensure all kids get a bike, regardless of family income, donate today! Just $50 gives a bike to a kid in need!

 

Matt Jacobs, Kira Johnson and Austin Taylor of Provo Bicycle Collective were featured on BYU Radio's Constant Wonder. Listen to us explain how PBC empowers people to fix things, gives bikes to those in need and creates community at the same time.

Listen now!

Here are some money quotes:

“The streets are a public space and there is nowhere else where you can see people so close physically that are so different economically. The bicycle is a way of joining people together and building community. That’s a slogan of the Bicycle Collective; recycling bicycles, building community. That’s what we hope to do, is build community through bicycles.” - Austin, PBC Director

“The speed of discovery…that feeling you get from cruising around on a bike; noticing things that you wouldn’t otherwise.” 

“There’s a drive to give back and help out in our community. The people with real needs are not always visible. By having nonprofits that care for them, that are invested in them, we can help them out. Together, we can fulfill this higher purpose.” - Matt, Volunteer and Programs Coordinator

Women’s night “makes me feel this desire to do more hands-on. If some kind of manual labor needs to be done, I’m not going to do that a man will do it, and I will do it instead.” - Kira, Women’s Night Manager

“Women can do great things. Women have the tendency to look at details, and when they get things done…it’s done with more care.” - Alexis, PBC volunteer

"If you see that norse god (Kai Cox) down there at the shop, tell him hi for me." - Marcus